Method of screen printing a label on a disk record blank



United States Patent [72] lnventor Musashino-shi, Japan [21] Appl. No. 672,517 [22] Filed Oct. 3, 1967 [45] Patented Sept. 22, 1970 [731 Assignees Shigeru lnoue, Tokyo, Japan; Masamitsu Oki, Musashino-shi, Japan [32] Priority Oct. 7, I966 [33] Japan [31] 41/65,672;41/93,343

[54] METHOD OF SCREEN PRINTING A LABEL ON A DISK RECORD BLANK 1 Claim, 17 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.Cl 101/129, 15/236, 101/123 [51] Int. Cl B41m1/12, B411 27/2 [50] Field ofSearch 101/123,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,493,053 5/1924 Rice 101/114 Masamitsu Oki,

Primary Examiner-William B. Penn A ttorney Craig, Antonelli, Stewart and Hill ABSTRACT: A method of printing a label, according to the screen printing process, on the label section of a 7 inch-45 r.p.m. disk record blank which incorporates a concentric, sloping annular ring surface by using a squeegee. Records produced by such a process can readily be washed with water. The squeegee, being made of elastic material of substantially uniform thickness, is adapted to slide over the surface of a screen form; its lower end is arcuately laterally displaced from the longitudinal plane of the section thereof. The label section of the record processed by the method of the printing operation has uniform finish in the density of ink applied thereover.

Patented Sept. 22, 1970 3,529,544

Sheet 1 of 5 INVENTOR Patented Sept. 22, 1970 3,529,544

Sheet 2 of 5 FIG. 3

I NVENT OR BY (P AZJZmeEZ ATTORN E Y5 Patented Sept. 22, 1970 Sheet INVENTOR ATTORNEY;

Patented Sept. 22, 1970 3,529,544

Y/b/ \Lj I NVENT OR BY M g j ATTORNEYfi Patented Sept. 22, 1970 3,529,544

Sheet 5 of 5 FIG. l0

FIG.

FIG. I

FIG.

INVENTOR BY Maw ATTORNEYS METHOD OF SCREEN PRINTING A LABELON A DISK RECORD BLANK The present invention pertains to a method of priming a label on the label section of a 45 rpm. disk record blank having a 7 inch diameter comprising a concentric, sloping annular ring surface, an implement used in the label printing process, and a 45 r.p.m. disk record as a finished product having its label section processed by means of direct printing.

Although the disk records of the present invention are defined in terms of 7 inch 45 r.p.m. disk record," it is to be understood that the same is not limited to the disk record having such a specific number of revolutions as 45 r.p.m, but the above term is used only for the records which are provided with a central hole of approximately 1% inches in diameter, which is encircled by an annular label section of about 3 /3 inches in diameter incorporating a concentric, sloping annular ring surface where that part of the label section having a maximum thickness which gradually diminishes in its third dimension into a thinner concentric section surrounding said central hole of the record.

In the conventional method of compression molding of a record material associated with the operation of labeling a record, a previously printed and desiccated paper label is put on the appropriate surface of each of the upper and lower metal dies used for the record disk molding operation and the labels are cemented thereon during the compression cycle of the molding operation.

Recently in the manufacture of record disks, compression molding has been largely replaced by injection molding. A common practice in the injection molding process is to employ paper having adhesive which is fastened on the record in a separate process after completion of the record disk molding operation.

The compression molding method of label application has the disadvantage that the affixed labels are liable to being damaged when the record is washed by water, while in the injection molding method of label application, the cemented labels have the further disadvantage of being prone to come off from the surfaces of the record even when the record is not washed.

In the present invention, however, such above-mentioned disadvantages are eliminated and in addition, there is provided a technique of representing a label on the record by means of direct printing which is the best method suited for the application of the label in conjunction with an injection molding process in the manufacturing operation especially in view of the current trend toward the use of the injection molding process among record manufacturers.

The object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a method of printing a label directly on a 7 inch-45 r.p.m. disk ecord which produces a neat and clean printing thereon, which is substantially uniform in colors and density of ink applied and which assures long life. A squeegee of a structurally unique design is also provided, which is used for the direct label printing process.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a 7 inch-45 r.p.m. disk record as a finished product with its label section represented according to the direct printing method using the squeegee of novel design, wherein the entire label printing displays substantially uniform colorific value as well as ink density and stays neat and clean permanently with the quality of being washable with water.

The present invention will now be described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. I is a plan view of a 7 inch-.45 r.p.m. disk record blank being printed with labels according to the method of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line ll-Il of FIG. I:

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a screen form used in the screen printing process;

FIG. 4 is a diagram explanatory of the screen printing operation;

FIG. Sis a perspective view ofa squeegee commonly used in the screen printing process;

FIGS. 60 and 6b are respectively similar views ofa squeegee used in the present invention:

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the bottom surface of the flat plate portion of the squeegee shown in FIGS. 6a and 612;

FIG. 8 is a plan view ofthe label section ofthe record disk;

FIGS. 9a, 9b, 9c and 9d show respectively sectional views arranged in parallel of the label section of the recorddisk;

FIG. 10 is a side view of the bottom edge of the squeegee shown in FIG. 6a or 6b; and

FIGS. Ilb, 11c and lld show how the arcuate bottom edge of the squeegee of the present invention adapts itself in operation to follow the surface being printed of labels of the record.

The surface covering the label section 2 of the record disk I shown in FIG. 1 consists of an inner flat annular ring section A, an outer similar section B and a conically sloping intermediary section C, as shown in FIG. 2, wherein the section B is about 2.4,times as thick as the section A, and the annular ring area delimited by the inner boundary of the section A and the perimeter of the section B is the surface employed for the label composition.

A synthetic resin or plastic record disk is prone to collect dust due to its susceptibility to electrification, and in order to achieve complete removal of collected dust from the sound recorded surface of the record, it is preferable to wash the disk with water.

However, in a record with paper labels cemented thereon by means of adhesive or otherwise, the labels have a tendency to come off when the record is washed with water, this being ascribable to the processes employed in manufacturing such a record, wherein the paper labels are first cemented on the record disk, which is then followed by a further process of punching out a hole in the center of the record. Thereafter when the record is washed, water permeates through the labels from the incised edges thereof, with the result being that the labels are tumefied and tend to easily come off.

As seen in FIG. I, the central hole in a 7 inch45 r.p.m. disk record is generally of a larger size, measuring approximately l inches in diameter, wherefore the described incised edge line along the inner circumference of the label 2 surrounding the central hole 3 is long enough to make conventionally used paper labels particularly susceptible to damage when the record is washed with water.

This disadvantage, however, may be eliminated if the desired lettering as well as the background color is produced on the label section of the record by means of direct printing using water-proof printing ink. In order to achieve this, the background color can first be printed directly on the record surface to the size of its label section, using a screen form 4 having the design of an annular ring shape thereon, as shown in FIG. 3, with the desired lettering subsequently superimposed over the finished background printing. However, wlth a squeegee of an ordinary flat plate model as shown in FIG. 5, the amount of ink forced to transude through the screen form 4 onto the surfaces being printed would be excessive in the label sections A and C compared with that in the section B.

Now, to describe the present invention in more detail, the squeegee 5 is usually operated so as to slide over the surface of the screen form 4 in the direction of arrow R, being slanted at an angle a of slope with respect to the screen. as shown in FIG. 4. Printing ink 8 present on the surface of the screen 4 is caused thereby to transude onto the surface 6 being printed, through the meshwork (shown diagrammatically by the broken line in FIG. 4) of the screen form, overcoming the resistance of this screen which tends to prevent said ink transudation therethrough. The label section, being printed of a 7 inch-45 r.p.m. disk record, consists of two fiat sections of different levels, Le. a higher section B and a lower one A, and a section C having a sloping surface, as shown in FIG. 2. The profile of the surface of the record being printed, when enlarged, changes as seen in FIGS. 9a, 9b, 9c and 9d at the lines IXa IXa, lXb-IXb, IXc IXc and IXd IXd of FIG. 8, these lines representing respectively the positions of the squeegee in operation passing over the surface of the record as it is in contact therewith. When a squeegee having a bottom edge of conventional straight linear style as shown in FIG. 5 is used under the printing pressure Fp, it can deform merely to such degree as indicated respectively by the double dots and dash lines 90', 9b, 9c and 9d in FIGS. 9a, 9b, 9c and 9d in spite of its being made of elastic rubber. This means that a uniform inking over the whole surface covering said sections A, B and C, cannot be achieved especially when semi-transparent ink is used, thus resulting in color irregularity, and thereby making the processed record commercially valueless.

Because of this difficulty in printing technique, the described method of direct label printing has not hitherto been employed in manufacturing 7 inch-45 r.p.m. disk records. The present invention aims to provide means for eliminating the difficulty in the technique of representing the background color by direct printing on the label section of a 7 inch-45 r.p.m. disk record.

trally of its longitudinal width to thereby form an arcuate section Q consisting of three bending points, K, L, and M, as illustrated in FIG. 7. Although both longitudinal side surfaces 55 and 56 flanking the opposite longitudinal ends outwardly of the width D of the lower part 54 of the squeegee are on the q=angle at which the squeegee is slanted with respect to the screen surface. d=difference in height between P and L and where h=height from the surface A to the surface B in Fig. 2.

Since the flat plate portion 5 is composed of synthetic 0 elastic rubber, the arcuate bottom section Q is easily 5 of the label section with uniform spread of ink achieved over the entire surface thereof in addition to a beautiful finish in uniform color even when translucent ink is used. Further excessive printing pressure is not required, thus serving to eliminate the possibility of damaging the screen form. After the label printing surface of annular ring form of the record disk has printing ink of the desired background color applied thereon in a layer of substantially uniform thickness, lettering is subsequently superimposed to the finished background printing.

Repeated washing of the 7 inchr.p.rn. disk record with water can be safely done without damaging the label printed thereon. With a record produced by the aforementioned process-free selection of any desired combination of colors of same Plane of the section with col'responding surfaces of 30 the record material itself is permitted. The background for the the upper part 53 of the same, said arcuate section in the lower part 54 of the squeegee is designed to have a curvature which is maximum at its lower edge and gradually diminishes upwardly therefrom to finally disappear in said upper part 53 of the squeegee.

A squeegee of the above type may be molded in its entirety as in FIG. 6a or may be fabricated in a manner as shown in FIG. 6b. There, a flat bar curved almost in semicircular shape is provided at its end with a round portion 51 and is secured to the above mentioned grip member 5' by means of set-screws 52. The flat bar extends downwardly across the longitudinal rectangular side surface of the squeegee of substantially uniform thickness and the round portion is adapted to apply lateral pressure thereagainst in the region located somewhat lower than the horizontal center thereof. A fiatplate squeegee as illustrated in FIG. 5, which is fabricated in the above-mentioned manner may be used since it will be deformed in its operation into such shape as shown in H65. 60 and 7.

The operation of direct label printing according to the present invention is as follows:

A squeegee 5 as described above is placed on the screen form 4, and is slanted in the direction of its forward movement so that the laterally displaced, arcuate lower end Q of the squeegee may be brought to contact with the surface of the 55 screen form 4 which is laid close to the label section B of the record disk. The squeegee is then operated to slide linearly over the screen surface of annular ring pattern, whereby a supply of printing ink within the screen mounting frame 4' is conveyed over the screen surface under pressure imparted by d=e cos a where e=distance between the line P and the central bending point L.

printing or label section of the record and the lettering being superimposed thereon also allows the finished label to be made to look neat, clean and legible withgreat ease.

lclaim:

l. method of printing a label on a record disk having a label section which includes outer and inner flat annular ring sections being disposed in different planes and a concentric, sloping annular ring surface located between said outer and inner flat annular ring sections, comprising the steps of: disposing a screen over said label section in adjacent parallel relation therewith; placing a squeegee, which has elastic qualities and a width substantially equal to the diameter of said label section, in the inoperative state thereof in a position slanted in the direction of forward movement of said squeegee with respect to the surface of said screen, wherein the upper part of said squeegee has substantially the shape of a flat plate and the lower edge of said squeegee in said inoperative state is 3 laterally displaced in a direction normal to the longitudinal plane of said squeegee centrally of the width thereof so as to form an arcuate section with longitudinal side sections flanking the arcuate section and being on the same plane of the section with the corresponding surfaces of the upper part and wherein the arcuate section gradually diminishes in curvature from the lower edge upwardly toward the upper part of said squeegee; sliding said squeegee over the surface of said screen while said squeegee is slanted in the direction of forward movement so that the arcuate section is in contact with the surface of said screen so as to follow the progressively changing shape of said label section; keeping the lower edge of said squeegee at a substantially uniform distance from said label section with said screen interposed therebetween by deforming the arcuate section so as to conform to the sloping ring surface and said outer and inner ring sections, thus forming a layer of printing ink having a substantially uniform density over the surface of said label section. 

